Flying remains on hiatus through the summer, I expect that things will improve sometime in September.

In past summers we travelled in the last week of July so we continued that tradition with a trip to Fairfax, Virginia which is in the Washington D.C. area.

I wanted to pass through Punxsutawney, PA on the way; the typical route due south from Buffalo is not very scenic so I checked with Google maps and I was thunderstruck to see that you can effectively route through Fredonia (Dunkirk) then south via Jamestown. This was much more pleasant.

Click on the photo below for more photos from Punxsutawney.

We head to Altoona, PA where the highlight is a stop at the famous Horseshoe Curve. This has been on my bucket list for a long time and very popular with Railfans. A significant portion of North American commerce passes through Horseshoe Curve. Click on the photo below for photos from Horseshoe Curve. There are a large number of photos, you will see why but perhaps video would have worked better.

We pass through a sliver of West Virginia and stop at Cacapon State Park. We are fans of West Virginia State Parks and we will certainly look to stay longer at Cacapon. We opted to take the fairly rugged road to the top of the mountain which, you will see was quite rewarding. Click on the photo for more.

In Fairfax, we visit with Bob and Felicia, here are photos from our trip to the Udvar Hazy Aerospace Museum.

We returned via US15 corridor which is being continuously improved, soon it will surpass all alternatives.

Thanks again to Bob for being such a good host. This was our first trip to the U.S. since the pandemic and we did miss it. We’re hoping that travel remains safe into the coming months, Covid persists in some quarters.